GOLD

The late-night rescue package agreed by euro zone leaders to cool their dangerous debt crisis will at least allow investors to look at other things for a while.

Euro zone leaders struck a last-minute deal to limit the damage from the currency bloc's debt crisis early on Thursday but are still far from finalizing plans to slash Greece's debt burden and strengthen their rescue fund.

China is considering a proposal to set up a regional bank to help its small and medium enterprises invest in Southeast Asian neighbors, fund infrastructure projects and promote development in southwestern China, two independent sources said.

Britain will not contribute to a euro zone bailout fund, Chancellor George Osborne said on Thursday following a deal to address the euro zone crisis.

The biggest, heaviest, inherently the most valuable gold bullion coin in the world has been unveiled by The Perth Mint, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Gold prices surged to their highest level in more than a month Wednesday as the precious metal's fourth consecutive daily gain took it to the brink of a decisive upswing.

Canada-based gold miner Dia Bras Exploration Inc. has regained access to its Yauricocha property in Peru after a road blockade was cleared, the company said Wednesday.

The incoming head of the European Central Bank threw the euro zone a lifeline hours before a crucial summit on Wednesday which looked set to fall short of a definitive plan to tackle the bloc's debt crisis.

Gold, which has just blown past its 100-day moving average price, is set to challenge its 50-day moving average, which is $1,741.17.

Argentina's oil, gas and mining companies must start repatriating all export revenue, according to an order by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's administration, which is struggling to halt capital flight from the inflation-plagued economy.

Precious metals miner Claude Resources increased its offer for the rest of St. Eugene Mining Corp. in a stock deal that now values the smaller gold exploration company at $18.7 million, the Canada-based company said.

Gold prices headed for a fourth consecutive daily gain Wednesday as investors returned to the yellow metal for protection from the ongoing risks to the European economy and weakness in the U.S. economy.

Spot gold rose nearly 1 percent on Wednesday to its highest level in more than a month, as safe-haven demand returned on growing doubts over a resolution to the Eurozone debt crisis ahead of a key European Union summit later in the day.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. has declared force majeure on concentrate sales agreements from its strike-hit Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the Arizona-based firm said on Wednesday.

It's festival season in India, and that means sweets -- often garnished with edible silver leaf for that final gourmet touch.

Many small investors in China have turned to gold as high inflation threatens to erode wealth in the world's second-largest economy, leading to small gold exchanges springing up all over the country.

Townspeople in northern Peru are demanding an end to construction of the $4.8 billion Minas Conga gold mine because they fear it will threaten local water supplies, residents said on Tuesday.

Gold and silver mining stocks posted big gains Tuesday despite plunging share prices among broad market indexes on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Gold prices soared nearly three percent Tuesday as global investors fled stocks and the euro for safe-haven investments ahead of a critical European economic summit that many think will fail to fix the continent's debt and finance crisis.

Independent investor Dennis Gartman says he is prepared to buy back the gold he sold when he cut his holdings in half last week, adding prices would certainly move upward.

Gold prices blasted through the $1,700 per ounce ceiling Tuesday that they have operated under for the last month on growing fears that Europe is already in an acute financial crisis.

The International Monetary Fund told officials of Ghana, Africa's second-largest gold producer, that they should consider hiking taxes on the mining sector to boost revenue.

Gold and silver prices rose more than two percent Tuesday on rising fear that European leaders will be unable to produce a viable rescue plan for the continent's banks, or its staggering southern periphery.

The Eurasian Development Bank, a state-run joint venture between six former Soviet republics, has agreed to lend about $100 million to a Kazakh gold miner to help boost output of the precious metal in the Central Asian country.

Stocks fell on Tuesday on news that a meeting by euro zone finance ministers was canceled, adding to doubts about the region's efforts to tackle its debt crisis.

Russia's metals giant Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest palladium producer, said its palladium production for the first nine months of the year fell 5.1 percent to 2.1 million ounces.

Atacama Minerals Corp. said it will buy privately-held Sirocco Gold Inc. in an all-stock deal and bring in a new team headed by Chief Executive Richard Clark, sending its shares soaring 64 percent to a six-month high.

Great Basin Gold Ltd. sold 27 percent less gold sequentially in the third quarter from its operations in Nevada and South Africa.

Russian miner Polymetal's placement book for its London listing is more than 50 percent subscribed after the company opened it a day before, two sources close to the deal told Reuters on Tuesday.